It’s not surprising that there was such a good turnout of baristas to take part in Pacific Natural Foods’ Barista Series Almond Challenge that took place at Coffee Fest Portland last weekend. After all, the company’s Deb Kaminski had the brilliant idea to involve Portland baristas in the development of the product. For Deb, it was a no-brainer: “They’re the ones who will be using the Almond, so they should be the ones to give it a thumbs up,” she told me at the beginning of 2014, when the product was released.
Deb worked with Nathanael May of Portland Roasting, Devin Chapman, who was then with Coava Coffee, and Brad Quirie of Jola Cafe, to name a few, to create an almond product that could be steamed, would taste great cold or hot, and would blend beautifully with espresso. There was a lot of trial and error, but folks are unanimous about their love for this cafe-specific product.
Still, it’s less than a year old, and Deb knew there were plenty of people who hadn’t tried Pacific’s Barista Series Almond yet. To make the chance to play with it fun, she hosted a latte art competition in Pacific’s booth throughout Coffee Fest Portland, and the results were nothing short of spectacular.
Baristas came by the Pacific booth all weekend to pour latte art using the almond, and Deb displayed all the efforts proudly on a laundry line across the space. Passersby were constantly stopping in their tracks when they saw the latte art photos ”you can pour that with almond milk? Let’s just say that minds were blown.
At the end of Coffee Fest, the entries were judged by longtime latte art competition judges, Matt Milletto of the American Barista & Coffee School, Anna Gutierrez of Gourmet Source, and Kenneth R. Olson of Barista Magazine. Out of the whopping 52 people who entered the competition, veteran barista Kenny Smith of Sunergos Coffee in Louisville, Kentucky, won the grand prize of $300.
In second place was Aki Watanabe of Japan, who took home $150; and in third place was Kyle Dols of Sound Coffee and Morsel in Seattle, who won $50.
Deb is so thrilled with the turnout and excitement that the Pacific Barista Series Almond Challenge generated at Coffee Fest Portland that she says she intends to host similar competitions at Coffee Fest Atlanta (February 6 “8, 2015), SCAA in Seattle (April 10 “12, 2015), and Coffee Fest Chicago (June 5 “7, 2015).
Stay tuned for more details as the dates of those shows approach!
